FIVE GENERATIONS

OF COMPUTER
 First generation computers
(1940-1956)
• The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry
and
magnetic drums for memory.

• They were often enormous and taking up entire room.

• First generation computers relied on machine language.

• They were very expensive to operate and in addition to

using a great deal of electricity, generated a lot of
heat, which was often the cause of malfunctions.

• The UNIVAC and ENIAC computers are examples of first-

generation computing devices.
First generation
computers
1st generation
 Second generation computers
(1956-1963)
• Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and used in
the second generation of computers.

• Second-generation computers moved from

cryptic binary machine language to symbolic.

• High-level programming languages were also

being developed at this time, such as early
versions of COBOL and FORTRAN.

• These were also the first computers that stored

their instructions in their memory.
Second generation computers
Transistors
 Third generation computers
(1964-1971)
• The development of the integrated circuit was
the hallmark of the third generation of
computers.
• Transistors were placed on siliconchips, called
semiconductors.
• Instead of punched cards and printouts, users
interacted with third generation computers
through keyboards and monitors and
interfaced with an operating system.
• Allowed the device to run many
different applications at one time.
Third generation
computers
Integrated Circuits(IC)
 Fourth generation computers
(1971-1989)
• The microprocessor brought the fourth generation
of computers, as thousands of integrated circuits
were built onto a single silicon chip.
• The Intel 4004 chip, developed in 1971, located
all the components of the computer.
• From the central processing unit and memory to
input/output controls—on a single chip.
• . Fourth generation computers also saw the
development of GUIs, the mouse and handheld
devices.
Fourth generation computers
 Fifth generation computers
(1989 - Present)
• Fifth generation computing devices, based on artificial
intelligence.

• Are still in development, though there are some

applications, such as voice recognition.

• The use of parallel processing and superconductors is

helping to make artificial intelligence a reality.

• The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop

devices that respond to natural language input and are
capable of learning and self-organization.